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Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Well, It Happened .... _____ Is President

Yes, so that happened yesterday. I wasn't delusional enough to think it wouldn't happen, but still ... a reality show host who is addicted to Twitter and who has no experience at all in public service, in fact the only needs he services are for his own bank account, is the President.

My president. I know a great many people think he isn'ttheirpresident, but he is, just like Obama was the president for all the racists and AWMs—Angry White Men—out there. I won't say his name here, ever, because he does so like to see his name on things, but, yeah, he ismypresident and here's the reason why I think that way.

A few weeks ago, whilst strolling through Twitter, I noticed I had a new follower, Greg Stevens. As I do, I checked out his page and discovered that he calls himself a Gay - Atheist - Satanist - Feminist - Transhumanist - Scientist - Leftist - Activist and I thought, 'Hmmm, let's follow Greg.'

And then I checked out his Twitter page and noticed he has his own website and so I checked that out, coming across a post entitled, Trump is my president, which explained why he should be our president.

So, I’ll share Greg’s post with y’all ... it’s good, and when you’re done, stroll on over to his site, Greg Stevens, and let him know:

I’m not happy that Trump has been elected to be the President of the United States. I voted against him, and I spoke out repeatedly in opposition of him. I’ve written about how I will be a radical activist in opposition of the social and cultural values that he represents. I have shared the story of my friend Osama: his reaction to Trump’s election and how he plans to respond. I will not go gentle into that good night.

But Donald Trump is–or rather will be, once January rolls around–my president. I mean that in more than a “technical” sense, too. I mean that I whole-heartedly accept him as my president. Moreover: I think you should as well. You need to, for the good of the country.

Over the last several weeks, I’ve seen close friends of mine angrily sharing “Not My President!” op eds and tweeting with the #NotMyPresident hashtag. I do understand why this is such an emotional issue for many people. I’m not terrified yet, but I understand why some people are. I’m not dismissing or delegitimizing anyone’s feelings. I just believe that saying “not my president” is not quite the best way to respond.

I’ve been asking myself why. Why do I feel so strongly that Trump should be “my president”? At first, I thought it was about mere consistency. After all, for the last eight years I heard many conservatives claim that Obama was “not their president”. I found it annoying and ignorant, and mocked them by saying, “Well, I’m sorry to break it to you, he’s your president whether you like it or not.” Merely for the sake of not being a hypocrite, I think it behooves me to not fall into the same trap they did.

Deep down, though, that’s not the reason. Consistency is nice, but there is a much stronger reason that I think all Americans need to accept Donald Trump as our President. That reason is accountability.

Think about it this way: Your instinctive, emotional desire to say “not my president” comes from some of the associations you have with the phrase “my president”: you think the word “my” in that context similar to the way you might say “my role model” or “my guide”.

But we have another sense of “my” in the English language as well: My employee. My assistant. My servant. My dog that needs to be trained. My spoiled child who needs to be punished.

When I say: “Trump is my president” those are the analogous sentences that are echoing in my brain.

And they should be yours as well.

Consider the following poll results, comparing the views of the American people to the plans that Trump has said he wants to put in place:

Your reaction to this shouldn’t be fear, it should be grim and stern determination. This “president” is yours: he belongs to you. He is your bitch, your servant (literally, the term is “public servant”), and it is his duty to carry out the will of the people. Think of him like a pet that you need to train… but he’s made it clear he’s a bad dog.

He’s a very bad dog.

So you need to make him knowwhat the phrase “you are MY president” really means. It is not a title of respect or of power: not intrinsically, anyway. The office of the President is an office that servesthe People of the United States. When the President does it well, then he gets respect and power. And perhaps a tasty treat. But when he doesn’t do it well, it’s our responsibility to spank him on the nose (metaphorically!!) and let him know that he’s wrong and will be punished.He’s yours. He belongs to you.

And if he’s not your president… then whose is he? Then he’s a stray dog. You are giving up responsibility for keeping him on the leash. That will not end well.

Grab the leash. It’s your president.

We can make him sit, stay, and beg… but we need to take the leash to do it.

11 comments:

What a great read, and it does makes sense. All politicians are really our servants. The problems is when they don't do the job, were not firing them. A great read thanks for sharing. But bob, I'll still need a holiday mule.

Excellent. So well said... whether I like the idea of President Drumpf or not. I'm expecting it won't be long before we have to accept that we have a President Pence and I pray he's out of there before too much more damage is done.

Well, damn. I don't like it and I was determined that there was nothing he could say to make me call Drumpf my precedence, but...Greg makes a lot of sense (although, "our bitch" feels better, if not more natural).

Thanks for posting this...Greg Stevens has a fine mind and I am now following him on Twitter.

Good post. Yes he is our (and my) president. If I don't like that I need to get to work working for causes and candidates to keep him in check, promote the values I have and effect change in the direction that I believe in and desire. I need to work, volunteer, donate and support. I shall not wallow in misery becoming a helpless victim.